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U‑blox and Arvento Mobile Systems have announced the imminent launch of the new imt.x1 vehicle tracking system. Arvento’s imt.x1 differentiates from other vehicle tracking devices on the market, thanks to its 6‑axis Gyro sensor which can sense 3‑dimensional movement caused by emergency acceleration, panic braking and directional yaw and drift.

With connectivity options including dual CANBus and Bluetooth, the system is also eCall compatible and captures and provides data for accident analysis and other vehicle tracking functions. The system also uses the next generation powerful Arm based microcontroller.

As for previous Arvento products, collaboration with U‑blox was a key factor in the imt.x1 product development process and the system’s high position sensitivity and accuracy are based on integration of U‑blox’s 2G, 4G and 5G‑ready cellular modules as well as GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) modules. According to U-blow, the development of the imt.x1 aligns perfectly with Arvento’s vision and mission as a developer of advanced fleet telematics and vehicle tracking devices and will be available this month (August 2019).

The 147.5 x 100 x 41.8mm system is equipped with 1GB DDR3, 8GB eMMC, and a microSD slot. There’s a 10/100 Ethernet port, a wireless module with 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0, and a Huawei ME909S 4G module with SIM slot. The 4G module can be swapped out for GPRS. A pair each of antennas are provided for WiFi and 4G.

The FCU1201 enables dual simultaneous displays via an HD-ready mini-HDMI port and a DVI-I style LVDS port with support for 7-inch displays. Audio features include a 3.5 mm stereo earphone jack and a single track microphone. In addition, “users could also expand with 1W x 2 speaker connectors or 3.5mm single track microphone jack,” says Forlinx.

FCU1201 detail views(click images to enlarge)

The system is further equipped with USB 2.0 host, micro-USB OTG, and serial debug console ports, as well as a variety of serial connections via terminal block connectors. These include 2x RS485 and 2x CAN 2.0 ports, all with electronic isolation. There are also several RS232 inputs.

Other features include 4x DI and 4x DO via terminal connectors. The digital inputs are “designed with photo coupler and wet node,” says Forlinx, which adds: “users can change it to dry node optionally.” The digital outputs feature electromagnet relay protection.

The FCU1201 supports any ISO7816-compliant ESAM/PSAM security module. It also provides a mini-SIM slot for loading a PSAM card.

The gateway runs on a 9-15 V DC input and offers a 15-second UPS function. There’s also an RTC, reset and boot buttons, and mounting holes. Both 0 to 70℃ and -40 to 70℃ SKUs are available, although the WiFi works only at commercial temperatures.

Further information

No pricing or availability information was provided for the FCU120. More information may be found in the Forlinx FCU1201 announcement and product page.

The Dimming PIR Occupancy Sensor uses passive infrared technology to detect motion and then trigger instructions to control the lighting based on occupancy.

The product is targeted at industrial applications, including warehouses, distribution centers, and cold storage facilities. The device provides an energy saving solution by either turning the lighting off completely, or by reducing light levels based on parameters selected by the facility management. Nordic’s nRF52832 SoC provides the Bluetooth LE connectivity from the device to a user’s Bluetooth 4.0 (and later) smartphone for setup, configuration, and sensor adjustments including time delay, ambient light sensitivity, and motion detection range and sensitivity.

The Dimming PIR Occupancy Sensors employ Silvair’s Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) qualified Bluetooth mesh protocol ‘Silvair Mesh’—running on the Nordic SoC—to support Bluetooth mesh networking between a large number of sensors and other control devices in an industrial lighting setting. Mesh networking allows devices to communicate with any other device with information relayed via other nodes if necessary and without recourse to a central hub device. Such a system enables extended range, flexibility, scalability and redundancy.The mesh networking employed by the McWong sensors relays specific dimming commands with low latency across the network, avoiding the complexity that comes with sending information to each individual sensor in turn. Nordic’s software architecture includes a clear separation between the Bluetooth LE RF protocol software and McWong’s application code—which incorporates the Silvair mesh software—easing development, testing and verification.

Rather than requiring costly and time-consuming hardwiring to a central location, the mesh network offers fast and flexible operations that can be continuously adjusted. The ability to broadcast operating parameters from a smartphone and easily update functionality also makes scalability easier for facility owners and operators.

The Dimming PIR Occupancy Sensor provides 360° of coverage at mounting heights up to 40 feet. The sensor also provides bi-level dimming via 0-10 V control, which complies with many energy code requirements and offers greater energy-efficient performance than simple on/off control. The IP65 rating makes the sensor ideal for wet locations, such as parking structures, nurseries or loading docks.

The ASSA ABLOY Group (which includes HID Global), NXP Semiconductors, Samsung Electronics and Bosch have announced the launch of the FiRa Consortium. The new coalition is designed to grow the Ultra-Wideband (UWB) ecosystem so new use cases for fine ranging capabilities can thrive, ultimately setting a new standard in seamless user experiences. Sony Imaging Products & Solutions Inc., LitePoint and the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) are the first companies to join the newly-formed organization.

The FiRa name, which stands for “Fine Ranging,” highlights UWB technology’s unique ability to deliver unprecedented accuracy when measuring the distance or determining the relative position of a target. Especially in challenging environments, UWB technology outperforms other technologies in terms of accuracy, power consumption, robustness in RF connection and security, by a wide margin.

The starting point for UWB technology is the IEEE standard 802.15.4/4z, which defines the essential characteristics for low-data-rate wireless connectivity and enhanced ranging. It is the aim of the FiRa Consortium to build on what the IEEE has already established, by developing an interoperability standard based on the IEEE’s profiled features, defining mechanisms that are out of scope of the IEEE standard, and pursuing activities that support rapid development of specific use cases.

The capabilities of UWB promise to make it an essential technology in many areas including:

Seamless Access Control – UWB can identify an individual’s approach toward or away from a secured entrance, verify security credentials, and let the authorized individual pass through the entrance without physically presenting the credential.

Location-Based Services – UWB offers highly precise positioning, even in congested multipath signal environments, making it easier to navigate large venues such as airports and shopping malls or find a car in a multi-story parking garage. It also enables targeted digital marketing campaigns and foot traffic data. Retailers can present customized offers, government agencies can tailor their notifications, and entertainment venues can personalize recommendations during events.

Device-to-Device (Peer-to-Peer) Services – By providing precise relative distance and direction between two devices, UWB lets devices find the relative location of each other even without infrastructures such as anchors or access points. This allows people to easily find one another in crowded spaces or find items even when placed in hidden areas.

Due to its low power spectral density, UWB offers little to no interference with other wireless standards, so it is well suited for use with other wireless technologies, including Near Field Communication (NFC), Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. There are also adjacent markets that leverage UWB in other ways, especially automotive.

Gateworks’ headless “Ventana GW5910” SBC runs OpenWrt or Ubuntu on a dual-core i.MX6 and provides GbE with PoE, WiFi/BT, optional GPS, Sub-1 GHz, and 2.4 GHz radios, and dual mini-PCIe slots for further wireless expansion.Freescale’s i.MX6 was ahead of its time when it launched in 2011, and in the NXP era it it has continued to hold on in the embedded Linux market far longer and with greater dominance than any other processor. It’s only a matter of time before i.MX6-focused embedded vendors like Gateworks move on to the i.MX8 or other SoCs, but in the meantime there’s something to be said for working with a consistent SoC and platform/software platform rather than starting from scratch every few years.

Gateworks has just added to its i.MX6 collection by posting a product page for a new member of its Linux-supported, i.MX6-driven Ventana SBC family. Like other Ventana boards, the headless, wireless-oriented Ventana GW5910 supports -40 to 85°C temperatures.

This is the first Ventana board to offer built-in WiFi/BT, via a Laird Sterling module with 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.2 LE. There’s also an optional Ti CC1352P module with dual-band sub-1GHz and 2.4GHz RF support, enabling 802.15.4g wireless protocols like 6LoWPAN, Thread, and Zigbee. There’s also an option for a u-blox ZOE-M8 GNSS Receiver.

Like the Ventana GW5530, the Ventana GW5910 offers mini-PCIe expansion, and this time there are two slots instead of one. One of them supports mSATA storage and the other is accompanied by a nano-SIM slot with LTE support.

The 802.15.4g and GPS modules do not use the mini-PCIe slots, so you could conceivably have five different wireless technologies onboard at once, as well as a GbE port with both passive and active 802.3af Power-over-Ethernet support.

Like most of the Ventana boards, the GW5910 uses the dual Cortex-A9 version of NXP’s i.MX6. The board defaults to an OpenWrt BSP with U-Boot, and there’s also an Ubuntu BSP available. It lacks the Yocto, Debian, and Android support found on the other boards.

Ventana GW5910 detail views(click images to enlarge)

The Ventana GW5910 ships with the usual 512MB DDR3 and 256MB flash, but you can bump those up to 2GB for volume customization orders. There’s also a microSD slot and connectors for 2x serial, SPI, and DIO. There are no USB or display ports, but you get JTAG, an accelerometer, an RTC with battery, an 8-60VDC input, and the Gateworks System Controller.

The Gateworks boards are extensively documented for both software and hardware. However, as noted in the CNXSoft post that alerted us to the GW5910, the software wiki has yet to post details specific to the SBC.

Nordic Semiconductor has announced that its nRF9160 System-in-Package (SiP) LTE-M/NB-IoT cellular IoT modules and nRF52840 Bluetooth 5/Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE) SoCs are being used in the turnkey “GEPS” indoor and outdoor IoT positioning platform developed by Swedish industrial IoT startup, H&D Wireless.

GEPS is a turnkey, application-as-a-service solution that is designed to bridge the information gap between physical assets and business systems. It requires no upfront investment in hardware or software, and instead employs small 59 mm x 52 mm x 23 mm battery-powered, industrial-grade IoT tags embedded with either a Nordic nRF9160 SiP or nRF52840 SoC to track key assets and equipment via cellular, GPS or Bluetooth wireless technology in real-time.

Each tag (depending on application) can be configured with a rechargeable or AA-size battery, and achieve a minimum one year and maximum 10-year battery life. Operating either standalone or in conjunction with leading business and AI systems, the ultimate aim is to boost key operational metrics such as efficiency, safety, security, throughput, responsiveness, and ultimately profits. All this data is displayed via cloud-based visual dashboards accessible from desktop PCs, tablets or smartphones.

In asset management applications, for example, H&D Wireless is finding that its customers are saving between 20-40% in operational costs due to a combination of better utilization of their assets and the ability to get rid of 30% of the assets previously required to perform the same job. Key target industries for the GEPS platform include logistics (e.g. asset and fleet management), construction (for example tools, people and equipment), and manufacturing industries (such as sub-assemblies).

At just 10 mm x 16 mm x 1 mm in size, the nRF9160 includes everything a cellular connection and IoT application needs beyond requiring just an external battery, SIM and antenna. To achieve this ultra-high integration Nordic partnered with Qorvo to make a “System-in-Package” (SiP) that more closely resembles an integrated chip than a module.

The SiP includes a powerful application processor (Arm Cortex M-33), GPS support, standard microcontroller peripherals, and enough chip-integrated memory to execute IoT applications with edge computing. Yet this is not achieved by sacrificing on-air performance: the nRF91 is capable of delivering class-leading output power (+23 dBm) and sensitivity – vital for its GPS functionality

Nordic’s nRF52840 multiprotocol SoC is Nordic’s most advanced ultra low power wireless solution. The SoC supports complex Bluetooth LE and other low-power wireless applications that were previously not possible with a single-chip solution. The nRF52840 is Bluetooth 5-, Thread 1.1-, and Zigbee PRO (R21) and Green Power proxy specification-certified and its Dynamic Multiprotocol feature uniquely supports concurrent wireless connectivity of the protocols. The SoC combines the Arm processor with a 2.4GHz multiprotocol radio. The chip supports all the features of Bluetooth 5 (including 4x the range or 2x the raw data bandwidth (2Mbps) compared with Bluetooth 4.2). Designed to address the inherent security challenges brought by the IoT, the nRF52840 SoC incorporates the Arm CryptoCell-310 cryptographic accelerator.

Advantech has announced the TPC-71W, the new generation of its industrial panel PCs aimed at machine automation and web-terminal applications. TPC-71W is a cost-efficient, Arm-based industrial panel PC that features a 7” true-flat display with P-CAP multi-touch control and an NXP Arm Cortex-A9 i.MX 6 dual/quad-core processor to deliver high-performance computing. The system also features a serial port with a termination resistor that supports the CAN 2.0B protocol and offers a programmable bit rate of up to 1 Mb/s.

Equipped with the Google Chromium embedded web browser and support for various operating systems, including Android, Linux Yocto and Linux Ubuntu with QT GUI toolkits, TPC-71W allows system integrators to easily develop and deploy a wide range of industrial applications. The provision of wireless communication technologies, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and NFC, via a mini PCIe interface simplifies networking and ensures connectivity for data transfers.

TPC-71W also features Power over Ethernet (PoE) functionality for powering devices via Ethernet, thereby eliminating the need to build a power infrastructure. Furthermore, the TPC-71W panel PC supports VESA and panel mounting for flexible and convenient installation. Compared to other similar products, TPC-71W is one of the most competitively priced rugged industrial panel PCs currently available on the market. Overall, this powerful, reliable, and cost-effective computing platform provides the ideal solution for IoT implementation and expansion.

Gateworks announced a pair of mini-PCIe modems that have been tested — and offer tech support — only on the company’s Linux-based SBCs. Most recently, these include the Cavium Octeon-based Newport GW6100 and GW6200. The GW16126 with Cat-M1 and BLE 5.0 and the GW16130 satellite modem will likely work with other mini-PCIe equipped computers. The GW16126 requires a Linux host computer, while it appears the GW16130 may also work with other operating systems.

As with the GW16126, the device uses USB 2.0 signaling to the host. Serial communications are enabled via an FTDI USB-to-UART bridge. The modem operates at 1616 MHz to 1626.5 MHz with 1.6W average transmit power and -117 dBm receiver sensitivity. There’s a single u.Fl antenna connector.

In this next part of his article series on Bluetooth mesh, Bob looks at how to create secure provisioning for a Bluetooth Mesh network without requiring user intervention. He also takes a special look at an attack called Man-in-the-Middle which Bluetooth’s asymmetric key encryption is vulnerable to.

By Bob Japenga

Both of our cars are more than 15 years old. My only new car envy is with the lack of a modern audio system. With a rental car, I’m always envious of the Bluetooth support and the seamless way I can connect and reconnect my phone to the car’s system. Most of the new audio systems are well thought out and easy to use. For my birthday, I got a Bluetooth device that would connect my phone to my dumb audio system in both cars. I have been very happy with the devices although they have two quirks. One is that they don’t work when the car has been left outside and it’s below zero. After the car warms up, it will happily function. But it doesn’t like subzero temperatures.

The other quirk—pointed out by my grandchildren—is that when it powers up, it announces: “Waiting for Pairing.” And then when it is paired, it reports “Paired.” The quirk is that instead of saying “Waiting for Pairing” it sounds like it is saying “Waiting for Perry.” The first time my grandkids were in the car, they asked: “Who is Perry and why are we waiting for him?” Now I can only hear “Waiting for Perry” when I turn on the car.
Pairing is the way two standard Bluetooth devices establish the initial link for one-to-one networking (Figure 1). Bluetooth mesh needs a much more sophisticated and secure method of linking the many-to-many network. That method is called provisioning. I introduced Bluetooth mesh provisioning in my last article (Circuit Cellar 345, April 2019) [1]. So, if you haven’t read that article, as a minimum, it will be important to go back to understand the terms that were defined in that article and which I will be using in this article.

Figure 1Pairing is the way two standard Bluetooth devices establish the initial link for one-to-one networking.

As I mentioned last time, the Bluetooth specification [2] states that only if an Out-of-Band (OOB) public key is used or if an OOB action is taken to pass the public key (using user supplied information), “provisioning is Insecure Provisioning.” This statement will basically jettison any project that does not use one of these two OOB methods when presented to a savvy IT group. It did for us. Imagine presenting to your CEO a new product line using Bluetooth mesh that doesn’t use one of these two methods. Most likely the savvy CEO will ask: “What is the projected return on our investment?” AND “Is it secure?” Would you want to say: “Well, we are using Insecure Provisioning but other than that it is secure?”

I’m not convinced that the specification is entirely accurate in this statement and would appeal to the Bluetooth SIG to reconsider their wording. I want to elaborate on this idea in this article and provide some means for making provisioning secure without using either of the two OOB methods to pass the public keys.

Man-in-the-Middle

As I mentioned last time, Bluetooth uses asymmetric key encryption during the first part of provisioning. Asymmetric key encryption has one basic security flaw. It is subject to what is called a Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack. Let me illustrate this attack.

Imagine that Bob and Barbara are happily married. I know, normally everyone uses Alice in these illustrations, but my wife’s name is Barbara. They want to communicate some secret birthday plans about their grandson Sean. So, they both send over clear text their public keys (B1 and B2) (Figure 2). Bob encrypts all of his messages with Barbara’s public key B2, and sends them to Barbara. Barbara decrypts all of Bob’s messages using her private key B2P. Barbara sends all of her messages to Bob using Bob’s public key B1 to encrypt the data. Bob decrypts Barbara’s messages with Bob’s private key B1P.

Figure 2Shown here is an example exchange that would be insecure because it would be subject to a Man-in-the-Middle attack. However, during normal asymmetric key encryption, the attack can be prevented through authentication.

Imagine that grandson Sean is a curious computer whiz and wants to know what’s he is going to get for his birthday. He intercepts the public key exchange B1 and B2 between his grandparents. Instead of passing on their public keys, he sends them his public key S1. So, when Bob and Barbara send their messages encrypted with S1 to each other he intercepts them and decrypts them using his private key S1P since they are encrypting their messages with his public key S1. He finds out what he is getting for his birthday and then encrypts the messages using Bob and Barbara’s public keys and sends them back to them. Bob and Barbara are clueless to the fact that Sean now knows what he is getting for his birthday.

That example illustrates that, if during the provisioning process, the public keys are not exchanged OOB, the process would be insecure because they would be subject to a MitM attack. However, during normal asymmetric key encryption, the way this can be prevented is through authentication. If Bob can know that a key is authentically from Barbara, he would immediate recognize that the key that Sean sent was not from Barbara. During normal Internet asymmetric key encryption this authentication is done through Certificates of Authority created by a trusted signing authority.

The Bluetooth provisioning process includes authentication of the device as part of the process. Authentication can either be using an OOB technique or without OOB. So, I would contend that if you use some means of authenticating that does not transfer the credentials over the Bluetooth network, your provisioning process would be secure in spite of what the Bluetooth specification says (I am definitely treading on thin ice here!).
…

Note: We’ve made the October 2017 issue of Circuit Cellar available as a free sample issue. In it, you’ll find a rich variety of the kinds of articles and information that exemplify a typical issue of the current magazine.

The June issue of Circuit Cellar magazine is out next week!. We’ve been tending our technology crops to bring you a rich harvest of in-depth embedded electronics articles. We’ll have this 84-page magazine brought to your table very soon..

Integrated PCB Design Tools
After decades of evolving their PCB design tool software packages, the leading tool vendors have the basics of PCB design nailed down. In recent years, these companies have continued to come up with new enhancements to their tool suites, addressing a myriad of issues related to not just the PCB design itself, but the whole process surrounding it. Circuit Cellar Chief Editor Jeff Child looks at the latest integrated PCB design tool solutions.

dB for Dummies: Decibels Demystified
Understanding decibels—or dB for short—may seem intimidating. Frequent readers of this column know that Robert uses dB terms quite often—particularly when talking about wireless systems or filters. In this article, Robert Lacoste discusses the math underlying decibels using basic concepts. The article also covers how they are used to express values in electronics and even includes a quiz to help you hone your decibel expertise.

Understanding PID
As a means for implementing feedback control systems, PID is an important concept in electronics engineering. In this article, Stuart Ball explains how PID can be applied and explains the concept by focusing on a simple circuit design.

DESIGNING CONNECTED SYSTEMS

Sensor Connectivity Trends
While sensors have always played a key role in embedded systems, the exploding Internet of Things (IoT) phenomenon has pushed sensor technology to the forefront. Any IoT implementation depends on an array of sensors that relay input back to the cloud. Circuit Cellar Chief Editor Jeff Child dives into the latest technology trends and product developments in sensors with an emphasis on their connectivity aspects.

Bluetooth Mesh (Part 3)
In this next part of his article series on Bluetooth mesh, Bob Japenga looks at how to create secure provisioning for a Bluetooth Mesh network without requiring user intervention. He takes a special look at an attack which Bluetooth’s asymmetric key encryption is vulnerable to called Man-in-the-Middle.

PONDERING POWER AND ENERGY

Product Focus: AC-DC Converters
To their peril, embedded system developers often treat their choice of power supply as an afterthought. But choosing the right AC-DC converter is critical to the ensuring your system delivers power efficiently to all parts of your system. This Product Focus section updates readers on these trends and provides a product album of representative AC-DC converter products.

Energy Monitoring (Part 1)
The efficient use of energy is a topic moving ever more front and center these days as climate change and energy costs begin to affect our daily lives. Curious to discover how efficient his own energy consumption was, George Novacek built an MCU-based system to monitor his household energy. And, in order to make sure this new device wasn’t adding more energy use, he chose to make the energy monitoring system solar-powered.

Building a PoE Power Subsystem
Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) allows a single cable to provide both data interconnection and power to devices. In this article, Maxim Integrated’s and Maxim Integrated’s Thong Huynh and Suhei Dhanani explore the key issues involved in implementing rugged PoE systems. Topics covered include standards compliance, interface controller selection, DC-DC converter choices and more.

Taming Your Wind Turbine
While you can buy off-the-shelf wind power generators these days, they tend to get bad reviews from users. The problem is that harnessing wind energy takes some “taming” of the downstream electronics. In this article, Alexander Pozhitkov discusses his characterization project for a small wind turbine. This provides a guide for designing your own wind energy harvesting system.

MORE PROJECT ARTICLES WITH ALL THE DETAILS

Windless Wind Chimes (Part 1)
Wind chimes make a pleasant sound during the warm months when windows are open. But wouldn’t it be nice to simulate those sounds during the winter months when your windows are shut? In part 1 of this project article, Jeff Bachiochi builds a device that simulates a breeze randomly playing suspended wind chimes. Limited to the standard 5-note pentatonic chimes, this device is based on a Microchip PIC18 low power microcontroller.

GPS Guides Robotic Car
In this project article, Raul Alvarez-Torrico builds a robotic car that navigates to a series of GPS waypoints. Using the Arduino UNO for a controller, the design is aimed at robotics beginners that want to step things up a notch. In the article, Raul discusses the math, programing and electronics hardware choices that went into this project design.

Haptic Feedback Electronic Travel Aid
Time-of-flight sensors have become small and affordable in the last couple years. In this article, learn how Cornell graduates Aaheli Chattopadhyay, Naomi Hess and Jun Ko detail creating a travel aid for the visually impaired with a few time-of-flight sensors, coin vibration motors, an Arduino Pro Mini, a Microchip PIC32 MCU, a flashlight and a sock.

Avnet has unveiled a minor upgrade to its open-spec, 96Boards CE form-factor Ultra96 SBC. The Ultra96-V2 retains the $249 price and core features of the Ultra96, including the Arm/FPGA hybrid Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC, but it also makes a few key additions.

The biggest touted improvement is a new Microchip wireless module with the same 802.11n Wi-Fi capability, but with Bluetooth improving to 5.0 BLE. The major advantage here is that the module is said to be pre-certified in 75 countries.

Ultra96-V2 (left) and Ultra96-V1
(click images to enlarge)

Avnet has also “updated all components on the Ultra96-V2 to allow industrial temperature grade options so that the board can operate in harsh industrial applications.” We saw no details, however, on the specifics of the standard and industrial options. The term “industrial temperature” usually refers to -40 to 85°C.

Other new features include an Infineon power management IC (PMIC) and dedicated headers for UART and JTAG. The product page suggests that the previous I2C header has been removed, with I2C now being available only on the 40-pin low-speed header, but the block diagram indicates otherwise. There also appear to be four new LEDs.

Like the original, the Ultra96-V2 runs PetaLinux on the Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC with a 1.5GHz quad-core, Cortex-A53 CPU block, a Mali-400 MP2 GPU, and a ZU3EG A484 FPGA — one of the lower-end UltraScale+ FPGA options. The SoC also features 2x 600MHz Cortex-R5 MCUs with vector FPUs and memory protection units for improved real-time processing. Avnet recently released a MSC SM2S-ZUSP module billed as the world’s first Zynq UltraScale+ based SMARC module.

Ultra96-V2 block diagram
(click image to enlarge)

As before, the SBC provides 2GB of Micron LPDDR4, and boots from a 16GB Delkin microSD card pre-loaded with Xilinx’s PetaLinux. Major ports include mini-DP, 2x USB 3.0, and single USB 2.0 host and micro-USB 3.0 ports.

ON Semiconductor has introduced its RSL10 Multi-Sensor Platform powered only with a solar cell. This complete solution supports the development of IoT sensors using continuous solar energy harvesting to gather and communicate data through Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), without the need for batteries or other forms of non-renewable energy.

The platform combines the RSL10 SIP with a solar cell and a host of low power sensors from Bosch Sensortec, including the BME280 all-in-one environmental sensor (pressure, temperature, humidity) and the BMA400 ultra-low-power 3-axis accelerometer. Together, they will allow developers and manufacturers to create complete IoT nodes that are entirely powered through renewable energy or energy harvested from the sensor’s surroundings.

There are a growing number of IoT sensor applications where the duty cycle is low enough to support intermittent communications, allowing the energy needed to support operation to be harvested using renewable sources. The energy efficiency of the RSL10 is augmented by the highly efficient power management system and the ultra-low-power sensors implemented in the platform. Applications are expected to include smart home and building automation such as HVAC control, window/door sensors and air quality monitoring. Asset tracking including package open/close detection, shock monitoring, and temperature and humidity data logging are also possible applications.

For easy development, the platform is supplied with all design files (Gerber, schematic and BoM) and customizable source code as part of a CMSIS software package. The RSL10 Solar Cell Multi-Sensor Platform is available now from ON Semiconductor.

STMicroelectronics has teamed up with Virscient to help system designers build automotive solutions using ST’s Telemaco3P secure telematics and connectivity processors. Virscient offers support to ST customers in the development and delivery of advanced automotive applications based on the ST Modular Telematics Platform (MTP). MTP is a comprehensive development and demonstration platform incorporating ST’s Telemaco3P telematics and connectivity microprocessor.

The Telemaco3P incorporates dual Arm Cortex-A7 processors with an embedded Hardware Security Module (HSM), an independent Arm Cortex-M3 subsystem, and a rich set of connectivity interfaces. With security at its core, and considerable flexibility in both hardware and software configurations, the Telemaco3P provides an excellent platform for connectivity within the vehicular environment.

ST’s Telemaco3P system-on-chip is designed as a solution for ensuring a secure connection between the vehicle and the Cloud. Its asymmetric multi-core architecture provides powerful application processors as well as an independent CAN control subsystem with optimized power management. Its ISO 26262 silicon design, its embedded Hardware Security Module, and automotive-grade qualification up to 105°C ambient temperature make it well suited for implementing a wide range of secure telematics applications supporting high-throughput wireless connectivity and over-the-air firmware upgrades.

The May issue of Circuit Cellar magazine is out next week!. We’ve been hard at work laying the foundation and nailing the beams together with a sturdy selection of embedded electronics articles just for you. We’ll soon be inviting you inside this 84-page magazine.

PC/104 and PC/104 Family Boards
PC/104 has come a long way since its inception over 25 ago. With its roots in ISA-bus PC technology, PC/104 evolved through the era of PCI and PCI Express by spinning off its wider family of follow on versions including PC/104-Plus, PCI-104, PCIe/104 and PCI/104-Express. This Product Focus section updates readers on these technology trends and provides a product gallery of representative PC/104 and PC/104-family boards.

Transistor Basics
In this day and age of highly integrated ICs, what is the relevance of the lone, discrete transistor? It’s true that most embedded systems can be solved by chip level solutions. But electronic component vendors do still make and sell individual transistors because there’s still a market for them. In this article, Stuart Ball reviews some important basics about transistors and how you can use them in your embedded system design.

Pressure Sensors
Over the years, George Novacek has done articles examining numerous types of sensors that measure various physical aspects of our world. But one measurement type he’s not yet discussed in the past is pressure. Here, George looks at pressure sensors in the context of using them in an electronic monitoring or control system. The story looks at the math, physics and technology associated with pressure sensors.

MICROCONTROLLERS DO IT ALL

Robotic Arm Plays Beer Pong
Simulating human body motion is a key concept in robotics development. With that in mind, learn how these Cornell graduates Daniel Fayad, Justin Choi and Harrison Hyundong Chang accurately simulate the movement of a human arm on a small-sized robotic arm. The Microchip PIC32 MCU-based system enables the motion-controlled, 3-DoF robotic arm to take a user’s throwing motion as a reference to its own throw. In this way, they created a robotic arm that can throw a ping pong ball and thus play beer pong.

Fancy Filtering with the Teensy 3.6
Signal filtering entails some tricky tradeoffs. A fast MCU that provides hardware-based floating-point capability eases some of those tradeoffs. In the past, Brian Millier has used the Arm-based Teensy MCU modules to serve meet those needs. In this article, Brian taps the Teensy 3.6 Arm MCU module to perform real-time audio FFT-convolution filtering.

Real-Time Stock Monitoring Using an MCU
With today’s technology, even very simple microcontroller-based devices can fetch and display data from the Internet. Learn how Cornell graduates David Valley and Saelig Khatta built a system using that can track stock prices in real-time and display them conveniently on an LCD screen. For the design, they used an Espressif Systems ESP8266 Wi-Fi module controlled by a Microchip PIC32 MCU. Our fun little device fetches chosen stock prices in real-time and displays them on a screen.

… AND MORE FROM OUR EXPERT COLUMNISTS

Attacking USB Gear with EMFI
Many products use USB, but have you ever considered there may be a critical security vulnerability lurking in your USB stack? In this article, Colin O’Flynn walks you through on example product that could be broken using electromagnetic fault injection (EMFI) to perform this attack without even removing the device enclosure.

An Itty Bitty Education
There’s no doubt that we’re living in a golden age when it comes to easily available and affordable development kits for fun and education. With that in mind, Jeff Bachiochi shares his experiences programming and playing with the Itty Bitty Buggy from Microduino. Using the product, you can build combine LEGO-compatible building blocks into mobile robots controlled via Bluetooth using your cellphone.

STMicroelectronics (ST) has announced its latest Bluetooth offering, its STM32WBx5 dual-core wireless MCUs. The devices come with Bluetooth 5, OpenThread and ZigBee 3.0 connectivity combined with ultra-low-power performance. Fusing features of ST’s STM32L4 Arm Cortex-M4 MCUs and in-house radio managed by a dedicated Cortex-M0+, the STM32WBx5 is power-conscious yet capable of concurrent wireless-protocol and real-time application execution. It is well suited to remote sensors, wearable trackers, building automation controllers, computer peripherals, drones and other IoT devices.Security features of the STM32WBx5 MCUs include Customer Key Storage (CKS), Public Key Authorization (PKA), and encryption engines for the radio MAC and upper layers. The MCUs have up to 1 MB of on-chip flash and a Quad-SPI port for efficient connection to external memory, if needed. Additional features include crystal-less Full-Speed USB, 32 MHz RF oscillator with trimming capacitors, a touch-sense controller, LCD controller, analog peripherals and multiple timers and watchdogs. The balun for antenna connection is also integrated.

Leveraging ultra-low-power technologies of the STM32L4 line, STM32WBx5 MCUs feature multiple power-saving modes including 13 nA shutdown mode, adaptive voltage scaling, and the adaptive real-time (ART) accelerator to maximize energy efficiency and ensure long-lasting performance in self-powered applications. The integrated radio transmitter is optimized for high RF performance and low power consumption to maximize battery runtime. The RF output power is programmable up to +6 dBm in 1 dB increments, and the MCU draws only 5.2 mA when transmitting at 0 dB. Receive sensitivity is -96 dBm for BLE communication at 1mbps. Designed for a link budget of 102 dB, the radio ensures robust communication over long connection distances and includes support for an external Power Amplifier (PA).